Friday, May 11, 2018

New Cards - Not From the Pile

Hello everyone. Today I'll start off with a card from Wales. It's a look at the Llangollen Canal , a navigable canal crossing the border between England and Wales. Its importance in the history of the British canal system was recognized in 2009 when the 18 km stretch from Gledrid Bridge to Horseshoe Falls including Chirk Aqueduct was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO. You can see the Chirk Aqueduct on Bruce's card.

A nice panoramic view of Sarajevo at night is the focus of today's second card. Of course , from the card, one can't tell any of the history of the city. In 1885 Sarajevo was the first city in Europe and the second in the world to have a full-time electric tram operating throughout the city. Then in 1914 it was the site of the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand and we all know how that played out. Let's not forget the Olympics. The city hosted in 1984 Winter Olympic Games. I'm sure we all remember the perfect scores of Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean as they mesmerized us with their interpretation of Bolero. A truly unforgetable performance. Last fact about Sarajevo - for 1,425 days it endured the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare, from April 1992 to February 1996.

Ana used a neat Flag stamp from 2005. It is 1 of 4 in a set celebrating the 50th Anniversary of the First EUROPA stamps.

Here's a card from China. I really don't have anything to say about it as all the comments , front and back , are in Chinese.

But it arrived with 4 great stamps, thanks to Hannah who lives in Guangzhau, southern China. 3 of the 4 stamps were issued in 2016. Let's look at these first. Top left - 1 of 4 in a set celebrating Chinese Filial Piety. Top right - 1 of 6 celebrating the Marine Silk Road and bottom left - 1 of 6 commemorating the 80th Anniversary of the Red Army Victory. The other stamp was issued in 2013 - 1 of 12 in a mini-sheet featuring Peach Blossoms.

Next is a card showing the orgues of Ille-Sur-Tet, looking like organ pipes soaring into the sky. These can be found in Le Roussillon area, a commune in southeastern France. These are somewhat similar to the hoodoos of Alberta, Canada.

Dominique used a stamp issued in March of this year. It commemorates the 120th Anniversary of the ASPTT or the Sports Association of Posts, Telegraphs and Telephone.

This next card features traditional wood carvings from Rwanda. I only have a few cards from this African country so it was nice to see another one in my mailbox.

Bruce used a stamp from 2010, 1 of 5 in a Folklore set. It received a nice circular cancel in Kigali, the country's capital.

Now for the last card for this time. It's from Great Britain and features a picture of Bryan Organ's 1981, acrylic on canvas, of Diana, Princess of Wales. It hangs in the National Portrait Gallery in London.

David used a very recent stamp, issued on April 17th. It is from a set of 6 Flora and Fauna - Reintroduced Species.

Looks like David's card got an April 23rd cancellation and received the special congratulatory message concerning Prince Louis Arthur George's birth that day.

So ends another one. Thanks for today's cards go out to Bruce, Dominique, Hannah, Ana, and David. All greatly appreciated. I should be back here again soon , sometime over the weekend for sure. See you all then..